All decisions

Product and technical decisions on monsterbrain. All decided by Daniel; they are binding requirements for every feature and every piece of code. Business decisions (licence, market, distribution) are kept outside this repository.

A new decision comes from an approved proposal in the technical details – see Working on monsterbrain.

ID	Title	Decided
DEC_DESKTOP_APP	A desktop app, not a server started by hand	2026-10-20
DEC_LAYOUT	Layout: tree left, content in the middle, metadata right	2026-10-20
DEC_STRUCTURE_UNCHANGED	The folder structure stays unchanged – monsterbrain reads it and imposes none	2026-10-20
DEC_CHANGES_ON_FOLDERS	The change view works on folders; Git supplies changes where a folder is a repository	2026-10-20
DEC_NO_INTERACTION_STATE	monsterbrain keeps no state about user interactions	2026-10-20
DEC_CLAUDE_MCP	Claude controls the app through a local MCP server; a chat inside the app comes later	2026-10-20
DEC_ELECTRON	Electron with TypeScript	2026-10-20
DEC_TWO_REPOS	Two repositories: the app, and later the shareable brain setup	2026-10-20
DEC_AGENT_RUNNING_SESSION	Agent actions go to the running Claude Code session	2026-10-22
DEC_AGENT_BY_HAND	Agent actions are only ever started by hand	2026-10-22
DEC_START_CLAUDE_HERE	"Start Claude here" is enough to make agent actions simple	2026-10-22
DEC_AGENT_GENERIC	Generic parts in monsterbrain, the review action in deciwa, no extra review state	2026-10-22

Product

Decision: A desktop app, not a server started by hand DEC_DESKTOP_APP

status: approved decided: 2026-10-20 reason: The app starts, watches and stops whatever it needs internally; no console. alternatives: a local server opened in the browser.

Decision: Layout: tree left, content in the middle, metadata right DEC_LAYOUT

status: approved decided: 2026-10-20 reason: As in the viewer mockup, with the danwos tool branding.

Decision: The folder structure stays unchanged – monsterbrain reads it and imposes none DEC_STRUCTURE_UNCHANGED

status: approved decided: 2026-10-20 reason: The folder belongs to its user and their agents; the app adapts to it.

Decision: The change view works on folders; Git supplies changes where a folder is a repository DEC_CHANGES_ON_FOLDERS

status: approved decided: 2026-10-20 reason: The knowledge folder and the code repositories next to it are watched the same way. alternatives: the knowledge folder only.

Decision: monsterbrain keeps no state about user interactions DEC_NO_INTERACTION_STATE

status: approved decided: 2026-10-20 reason: Seen, read and done are review state – a deciwa feature that comes with the deciwa extension. alternatives: an own "seen" state in the app.

Decision: Claude controls the app through a local MCP server; a chat inside the app comes later DEC_CLAUDE_MCP

status: approved decided: 2026-10-20 reason: The most for the least effort, one chat place, works with every MCP-capable agent, no API key in the app. alternatives: a chat panel inside the app (embedded terminal or Agent SDK).

Agent actions

Decision: Agent actions go to the running Claude Code session DEC_AGENT_RUNNING_SESSION

status: approved decided: 2026-10-22 reason: You and Claude work on the result together, with the chat context of the session. alternatives: a new background session per action, MCP prompts as slash commands, copying the prompt.

Decision: Agent actions are only ever started by hand DEC_AGENT_BY_HAND

status: approved decided: 2026-10-22 reason: monsterbrain offers (button, key), the user decides; no event – e.g. a finished review – starts an agent. alternatives: start the agent automatically when a review is finished.

Decision: "Start Claude here" is enough to make agent actions simple DEC_START_CLAUDE_HERE

status: approved decided: 2026-10-22 reason: One click when no session listens; the start script and the channel flag stay hidden. alternatives: a setup button with a short command, an embedded terminal in the app, a Claude Code plugin.

Decision: Generic parts in monsterbrain, the review action in deciwa, no extra review state DEC_AGENT_GENERIC

status: approved decided: 2026-10-22 reason: monsterbrain knows sessions and concepts, deciwa knows the review; every review entry has a created time, so Claude finds what is new itself and deciwa keeps no per-user files. alternatives: the action built into monsterbrain; deciwa storing when the agent was last informed.

Technical

Decision: Electron with TypeScript DEC_ELECTRON

status: approved decided: 2026-10-20 reason: The same Chromium on every system, so HTML outputs look like in Chrome; Linux is stable; one language for UI and core. alternatives: Tauri – much smaller download and RAM, but a different web engine per OS (WebKitGTK on Linux) and Rust as a second language.

Decision: Two repositories: the app, and later the shareable brain setup DEC_TWO_REPOS

status: approved decided: 2026-10-20 reason: The setup (folder skeleton, AGENTS.md, templates, skills, example section) is shared on its own; the app is distributed later. alternatives: one repository.